For the third straight week, Oakdale’s varsity football team made short work of its opposition. After a competitive league opener against Sierra, the last three games have been a bit of a laugher. Since week one’s 28-25 road win over Sierra, Oakdale (6-1, 4-0) has scored at least 40 points per game. This past Friday night, celebrated as Mustang Homecoming, that streak continued as Oakdale manhandled visiting East Union (5-2, 2-2) 42-6.
The Mustangs welcomed back running back Will Semone to action after an ankle injury suffered in week two of Valley Oak League play. In his return, Semone carried the ball 18 times for 118 yards and a touchdown.
“He is an important piece to our backfield, an absolute stud. I’ve spent a lot of time with the guy and he is focused one hundred percent of the time. Everyone is glad to have him back on the field,” teammate Cullen Bearden said of Semone’s return.
Oakdale scored the game’s lone first quarter points on a Cameron Cherry 17-yard rush with 8:25 left in the quarter. Cherry finished the game with 182 rushing yards on 16 carries. East Union had early opportunities to keep it close but a missed 24-yard first quarter field goal attempt was botched on a bad snap, and recovered by Joshua Jacobson of Oakdale. Toward the end of the first half, the Mustangs defense held off the Lancers again when two-way player Bronson Harmon intercepted the ball at their own 37 yard line. Oakdale broke the game open in the second quarter, outscoring the Lancers 21-0. Two rushing scores by Harmon and a rushing score by Bearden gave the Mustangs a commanding 28-0 halftime lead.
The Mustangs added on to their big lead with Semone’s one-yard rush for a score to make it 35-0 with 9:29 remaining in the third quarter. The defense continued to punish East Union as they sacked the visiting quarterback three times in the second half. Sack credit went to Matt Kjeldgaard, Bearden and one was a group effort that made the night difficult on East Union’s offense. Oakdale found the end zone for a second time in the third quarter on a Wes Leitjen one yard run to give Oakdale a 42-0 lead with 3:07 left in the third.
For the first time in nearly 13 quarters, a team scored on the Mustangs as East Union broke through for a touchdown with 10:56 remaining in the game.
This Friday night, the Mustangs and The Corral welcome back the 1996 Section Championship team for a special 20-year reunion. On the field, Oakdale hosts Weston Ranch (3-4, 0-4).
JUNIOR VARSITY
Mother Nature’s downpour of rain could not slow down the Mustang Colts as Oakdale defeated the visiting Lancers Friday night 20-6. Owning the night was sophomore Oscar Ramos, who rushed for a total of 240 yards and scored two touchdowns for Oakdale in the win.
FRESHMEN
The boys hit the road on Thursday night and walked away with a 40-6 victory over previously unbeaten East Union. The youngest Mustangs are back on the road this week, as they will travel to Stockton to face the Weston Ranch Cougars on Thursday, Oct. 20.
